DETROIT (WXYZ) — City leaders and community members gathered to celebrate the completion of City Modern, a transformative mixed-use development in Detroit's Brush Park neighborhood that has revitalized a once-vacant area.
The project, which began in 2015, brings 450 housing units and 31,000 square feet of retail space to the neighborhood.
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Mona Ross Gardner, chair of the Brush Park Community Development Corporation, described what the area was like years ago.
"A lot of drug use, abandoned houses, dilapidated homes everywhere. There were very few people that actually lived here," Gardner said.
Gardner, who was born in Brush Park, now sees a dramatically different community.
"Lots of life, lots of youth, lots of creativity," she said.
The development spans 8.5 acres and includes 340 apartments with 54 affordable options, and 105 for-sale units spread across 20 new buildings, along with rehabilitated historic houses.
Jonathan Mueller, senior vice president of development for Bedrock Detroit, expressed his amazement at seeing the completed project.
"It's a little surreal to be out here kind of standing in the project and experiencing it," Mueller said.
The development helps connect different parts of the city and has spurred additional growth in the area.
"There was quite a few breaks in the urban fabric in Brush Park and I think a big part of the thinking here for Bedrock, along with the city and the CDC is we needed to do something that would be transformative that would lead others to think about doing projects in Brush Park, and really that has proven true," Mueller said.
The project has already attracted new businesses, including Lena, a Spanish-inspired wood-fired restaurant. Owner Tarun Kajeepeta chose the location for its strategic advantages.
"The idea of walkability and density, it was the idea of being part of something that's like a center of gravity in the city, and it's the fact that it's proximal to everything," Kajeepeta said.
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